Vapor deposition apparatus

ABSTRACT

A vapor deposition apparatus, including: a reaction device having a reaction chamber; a first gas duct connected to the reaction chamber and configured to direct a process gas into the reaction chamber; a gas ionization device connected to the reaction device and configured to ionize a cleaning gas; and a second gas duct connected to the gas ionization device and configured to direct the cleaning gas into the gas ionization device; a common gas duct; and a three-way control mechanism. An end of the common gas duct is connected to the reaction chamber and the other end of the common gas duct is connected to a first gas port of the three-way control mechanism; the first gas duct and the gas ionization device are connected to a second gas port and a third gas port of the three-way control mechanism, respectively.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a Section 371 National Stage Application ofInternational Application No. PCT/CN2016/070139, filed on Jan. 5, 2016,entitled “VAPOR DEPOSITION APPARATUS”, which has not yet published,which claims priority to Chinese Application No. 201510465152.3, filedon Jul. 31, 2015, incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

Field of the Disclosure

The present disclosure relates to a field of manufacturing a displaydevice, in particular, to a vapor deposition apparatus for coating aglass substrate.

Description of the Related Art

A vapor deposition is a common film coating process. For example, in adisplay technical field, it is typically required to carry out multipleplasma chemical vapor deposition processes to coat a base substrate (forexample, a glass substrate) in a reaction chamber, so as to form afunctional pattern. However, after the film coating process is carriedout on the glass substrate for a period of time, redundant films may bedeposited on an inner wall of the reaction chamber of the vapordeposition apparatus, thereby affecting a product yield rate adversely.

The process gas and the cleaning gas from respective gas sources flowthrough two ducts respectively, converge into one path at an ionizationdevice, then enter the reaction chamber. One of the process gas and thecleaning gas may be selected by controlling a valve, according to actualrequirements.

However, there is also a small chamber inside the ionization device. Anoxide film is coated on an inner wall of the chamber. As the ionizationdevice is becoming aging, the oxide film on the inner wall of thechamber may be exfoliated to form exfoliated particles. If the processgas is supplied into the reaction chamber through the chamber of theionization device, the exfoliated particles in the chamber of theionization device may be supplied into the reaction chamber along withthe process gas, thereby affecting the product yield rate adversely.

SUMMARY

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, it is provided a vapordeposition apparatus, comprising:

a reaction device having a reaction chamber;

a first gas duct connected to the reaction chamber and configured todirect a process gas for deposition into the reaction chamber;

a gas ionization device connected to the reaction device and configuredto ionize a cleaning gas; and

a second gas duct connected to the gas ionization device and configuredto direct the cleaning gas for cleaning the reaction chamber into thegas ionization device.

According to some embodiments, the vapor deposition apparatus furthercomprises a common gas duct, wherein the process gas is supplied intothe reaction chamber by passing through the first gas duct and thecommon gas duct in order, and the cleaning gas is supplied into thereaction chamber by passing through the second gas duct, the gasionization device and the common gas duct in order.

According to some embodiments, the reaction device further has a firstport and a second port, and wherein the process gas is supplied into thereaction chamber from the first port by passing through the first gasduct and the cleaning gas is supplied into the reaction chamber from thesecond port by passing through the second gas duct and the gasionization device in order.

According to some embodiments, the vapor deposition apparatus furthercomprises a common gas duct and a three-way control mechanism, wherein,

an end of the common gas duct is connected to the reaction chamber andthe other end of the common gas duct is connected to a first gas port ofthe three-way control mechanism;

the first gas duct and the gas ionization device are connected to asecond gas port and a third gas port of the three-way control mechanismin a one-to-one correspondence; and

the three-way control mechanism is configured to control the common gasduct to communicate with the first gas duct or the gas ionizationdevice, or to stop the common gas duct communicating with both the firstgas duct and the gas ionization device.

According to some embodiments, the three-way control mechanism comprisesa dual vacuum system having a switch mechanism.

According to some embodiments, the switch mechanism is a valve for dualvacuum system, and the gas ionization device is a remote plasma source.

According to some embodiments, the dual vacuum system comprises:

a first vacuum chamber communicated with the first gas duct;

a second vacuum chamber communicated with the gas ionization device; and

the switch mechanism which is configured such that the common gas ductis communicated with the first vacuum chamber or the second vacuumchamber, or the common gas duct is stopped communicating with both thefirst vacuum chamber and the second vacuum chamber.

According to some embodiments, the vapor deposition apparatus furthercomprises:

a first control mechanism disposed in the first gas duct and configuredfor opening or closing the first gas duct; and/or

a second control mechanism disposed in the second gas duct andconfigured for opening or closing the second gas duct.

According to some embodiments, the vapor deposition apparatus furthercomprises a process gas source for supplying the process gas and acleaning gas source for supplying the cleaning gas.

According to some embodiments, the common gas duct is formed of ceramicmaterial.

According to some embodiments, the reaction device comprises an upperelectrode and a lower electrode, which are opposite to each other in thereaction chamber and configured for generating an electric field in thereaction chamber to ionize the process gas into plasma.

According to some embodiments, the reaction device further comprises amatching box configured for matching a radio-frequency voltage appliedon the upper electrode to obtain a minimum reflected power.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Preferable embodiments of the present disclosure will be described withreference to accompanying drawings by way of examples. In the drawings:

FIG. 1A is a schematic structural view of a vapor deposition apparatusaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure, in which theprocess gas and the cleaning gas are supplied into a reaction chamberthrough a common gas duct;

FIG. 1B is a schematic structural view of a vapor deposition apparatusaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure, in which theprocess gas and the cleaning gas are supplied into a reaction chamberthrough different ports;

FIG. 2 is a schematic structural view of a vapor deposition apparatushaving a three-way control mechanism according to an embodiment of thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 3 is a schematic structural view of an example of a three-waycontrol mechanism; and

FIG. 4 is a schematic structural view of a vapor deposition apparatushaving gas sources and control mechanisms according to an embodiment ofthe present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE DISCLOSURE

In order to make the objects, technical solutions and advantages of thepresent disclosure become clearer, the present disclosure will befurther explained in detail with reference to the embodiments anddrawings below. It should be understood that the present disclosure isnot limited to the details described hereinafter or illustrated in thedrawings. These details are described for purpose of explaining ratherthan limiting, so that those skilled in the art can understand thepresent disclosure more thoroughly. It should be understood for thoseskilled in the art that the solutions of the present disclosure may alsobe implemented without these specific details.

It should be noted that, in the context, the expressions “connected” and“connecting” may indicate that two components are directly connected, ormay also indicate that two components are indirectly connected throughan intermediate third component. The expressions “communicated” and“communicating” may indicate that inner passages of two components aredirectly connected, or may also indicate that two components areindirectly communicated through an intermediate third component.

FIG. 1A is a schematic structural view of a vapor deposition apparatusaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG.1A, the vapor deposition apparatus may comprise: a reaction device 1having a reaction chamber 12; a first gas duct 5 connected to thereaction chamber 12 and configured to direct a process gas fordeposition into the reaction chamber 12; a gas ionization device 3connected to the reaction device 1 and configured to ionize a cleaninggas; and a second gas duct 6 connected to the gas ionization device 3and configured to direct the cleaning gas for cleaning the reactionchamber 12 into the gas ionization device 3.

Generally, a dry etching process is used to clean the reaction chamberso as to remove films on an inner wall thereof. During the dry etchingprocess, an ionization device, for example, a remote plasma source (RPS)or the like, may be used to ionize the cleaning gas such as nitrogentrifluoride (NF₃), ions obtained by the ionization are then fed into thereaction chamber to make a chemical reaction with components of thefilms on the inner wall, so as to realize the cleaning process. Thevapor deposition apparatus according to the embodiment of the presentdisclosure as shown in FIG. 1A may be applied to coat a workpiece or asubstrate, and also to clean the reaction chamber so as to clean offfilms coated on the inner wall of the reaction chamber after the coatingprocess. During the coating process, the process gas is supplied intothe reaction chamber 12 through the first gas duct 5, without passingthrough the gas ionization device 3. During the cleaning process, thecleaning gas is supplied into the gas ionization device 3 through thesecond gas duct 6 and is then supplied into the reaction chamber 12after being ionized, without passing through the first gas duct 5. Inthis way, exfoliated particles exfoliated inside the chamber 32 of thegas ionization device due to aging or other reasons are not suppliedinto the reaction chamber 12 along with the process gas, therebyincreasing a product yield rate. Moreover, the exfoliated particlesinside the chamber 32 of the gas ionization device are only suppliedinto the reaction chamber 12 along with the cleaning gas, and are pumpedout along with the cleaning gas by a vacuum pump 18 after the cleaningprocess is completed, so that the exfoliated particles may not affectthe yield rate of the product produced during the process such as thecoating process.

It should be understood that the vapor deposition apparatus illustratedin FIG. 1A may be a plasma chemical vapor deposition apparatusperforming plasma chemical vapor deposition process, or may also be avapor deposition apparatus performing physical, chemical or other typesof vapor deposition processes.

In a case that the vapor deposition apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1A isa plasma chemical vapor deposition apparatus performing plasma chemicalvapor deposition process, the reaction device may further comprise anupper electrode 13 and a lower electrode 14, which are opposite to eachother in the reaction chamber 12 and configured for generating anelectric field in the reaction chamber 12 to ionize the process gas intoplasma. In some embodiments, the reaction device 1 may further comprisea matching box 15 configured for matching a radio-frequency voltageapplied on the upper electrode 13 to obtain a minimum reflected power.According to an example, the used radio-frequency voltage is aradio-frequency voltage of 13.56 MHZ.

The reaction device 1 may comprise the upper electrode 13 and the lowerelectrode 14, between which the electric field may be generated. Theprocess gas supplied into the reaction chamber 12 is ionized into theplasma state under an effect of the electric field generated between theupper electrode 13 and the lower electrode 14, then is bound withreacted atoms to generate a desired film. As a result, the plasmachemical vapor deposition is realized.

In the vapor deposition apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1A, both theprocess gas and the cleaning gas are finally communicated to a gas inlet16 of the process chamber 12 through a common gas duct or a gas feedingduct 4. However, in other embodiments, the process gas and the cleaninggas may be communicated to different gas inlets 16′, 16″ of the processchamber, respectively, as shown in FIG. 1B.

FIG. 2 is a schematic structural view of a vapor deposition apparatusaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG.2, the vapor deposition apparatus may comprise: a reaction device 1having a reaction chamber 12; a first gas duct 5 connected to thereaction chamber 12 and configured to direct a process gas fordeposition into the reaction chamber 12; a gas ionization device 3connected to the reaction device 1 and configured to ionize a cleaninggas; and a second gas duct 6 connected to the gas ionization device 3and configured to direct the cleaning gas for cleaning the reactionchamber 12 into the gas ionization device 3.

Further, the vapor deposition apparatus may comprise a common gas duct 4and a three-way control mechanism 2. An end of the common gas duct 4 isconnected to the reaction chamber 12 and the other end of the common gasduct 4 is connected to a first gas port 25 (left gas port of thethree-way control mechanism 2 shown in FIG. 2) of the three-way controlmechanism 2. The first gas duct 5 and the gas ionization device 3 areconnected to a second gas port 26 (downside gas port of the three-waycontrol mechanism 2 shown in FIG. 2) and a third gas port 27 (right gasport of the three-way control mechanism 2 shown in FIG. 2) of thethree-way control mechanism 2, respectively. The three-way controlmechanism 2 is configured to control the common gas duct 4 tocommunicate with the first gas duct 5 or the gas ionization device 3, orto stop the common gas duct 4 communicating with both the first gas duct5 and the gas ionization device 3.

In the vapor deposition apparatus according to the embodiment of thepresent disclosure illustrated in FIG. 2, both the process gas and thecleaning gas are communicated to the reaction chamber 12 through thecommon gas duct 4, thus it is not necessary to modify the existingreaction chamber, thereby reduce efficiently a manufacturing cost of thevapor deposition apparatus.

In the embodiments illustrated in FIGS. 1A and 2, the reaction chamber12 of the reaction device 1 is in a vacuum and high-temperature state inoperation (i.e. during coating process), thus the ducts (the first gasduct 5, the second gas duct 6 and/or the common gas duct 4) connecteddirectly to the reaction chamber 12 are typically made of hightemperature-resistant material, in the vapor deposition apparatusillustrated in FIGS. 1A and 2.

As an example, these ducts 4, 5, 6 may be made of ceramic material. Inthis way, damage to the ducts due to high temperature may be prevented.In the case where the common gas duct is used, only the common gas duct4 may be made of high temperature-resistant material such as ceramic. Inthis way, the first gas duct 5 and/or the second gas duct 6 may beprovided or manufactured in a lower cost.

In an example, the three-way control mechanism 2 may comprise a dualvacuum system (DVS) having a switch mechanism. FIG. 3 is a schematicstructural view of a dual vacuum system.

As shown in FIG. 3, the dual vacuum system may comprise: a first vacuumchamber 21 communicated with the first gas duct 5; a second vacuumchamber 22 communicated with the gas ionization device 3; and a switchmechanism 23. The switch mechanism 23 may be switched such that thecommon gas duct 4 is communicated with the first vacuum chamber 21 orthe second vacuum chamber 22, or the common gas duct 4 is stoppedcommunicating with both the first vacuum chamber 21 and the secondvacuum chamber 22.

As stated above, the dual vacuum system 2 is provided between thereaction chamber 12 and the gas ionization device 3, that is, a vacuumisolation is provided between the reaction chamber 12 and the gasionization device 3. As a result, in a case that the gas ionizationdevice is needed to be replaced or maintained, it is only required tooperate the switch mechanism 23 of the dual vacuum system 2 so as to cutoff the communication between the common gas duct 4 and the secondvacuum chamber 22 and close the second gas duct 6. In this way, the gasionization device 3 may be isolated from the whole vapor depositionapparatus. Therefore, the gas ionization device may be replaced andmaintained without cooling and inflating the reaction chamber or thewhole vapor deposition apparatus.

By using the above configuration, the replacement and maintainingoperations of the gas ionization device may not be affected by thereaction chamber. Also, the vacuum state in the reaction chamber maystill be kept during the replacement and maintaining operations of thegas ionization device. Therefore, a utilization of the vapor depositionapparatus may be notably increased, thereby increasing productivity.

In some embodiments, the switch mechanism 23 may be a valve for dualvacuum system, and the gas ionization device 3 may be a remote plasmasource (RPS).

In other embodiments, as shown in FIG. 4, the vapor deposition apparatusmay further comprise: a first control mechanism 7 disposed in the firstgas duct 5; and/or a second control mechanism 8 disposed in the secondgas duct 6. The first control mechanism 7 is configured for opening orclosing the first gas duct 5 to bring the first gas duct 5 into acommunication state or non-communication state, so as to allow theprocess gas to or not to pass through the first gas duct 5. The secondcontrol mechanism 8 is configured for opening or closing the second gasduct 6 to bring the second gas duct 6 into a communication state ornon-communication state, so as to allow the cleaning gas to or not topass through the second gas duct 6.

It should be noted that, in other embodiments, only the first controlmechanism 7 or only the second control mechanism 8 may be provided.

If the process gas is needed to flow into the reaction chamber 12, thefirst control mechanism 7 may be operated so that the first gas duct 5is in the communication state. If the process gas is not needed to flowinto the reaction chamber 12, the first control mechanism 7 may beoperated so that the first gas duct 5 is in a closed state. In this way,problems related to coating films, which are caused by the process gassupplied into the reaction chamber 12 when the process gas is not neededto flow into the reaction chamber, may be avoided effectively.

If the reaction chamber 12 is needed to be cleaned, the second controlmechanism 8 may be operated so that the second gas duct 6 is in thecommunication state. In this way, the cleaning gas may be supplied intothe gas ionization device 3 and supplied into the reaction chamber 12after being ionized so as to perform the cleaning operation. If thereaction chamber 12 is not needed to be cleaned, the second controlmechanism 8 may be operated so that the second gas duct 6 is in a closedstate. In this way, adverse effects on the coating process, which areproduced as the cleaning gas is accidentally supplied into the gasionization device 3 and carries the exfoliated particles in the chamberof the gas ionization device into the reaction chamber 12, may beavoided effectively.

Moreover, in the exemplary embodiment illustrated in FIG. 4, the vapordeposition apparatus may further comprise a process gas source 9connected to the first gas duct 5 and configured for supplying theprocess gas, and a cleaning gas source 10 connected to the second gasduct 6 and configured for supplying the cleaning gas. In otherembodiments, the process gas source 9 and/or the cleaning gas source 10may be set on site, or may be set remotely, which depends on arequirement of the process. The process gas source 9 and/or the cleaninggas source 10 may be a gas source specially used for one plasma chemicalvapor deposition apparatus, or may be a gas source configured to supplythe process gas and/or cleaning gas for a plurality of plasma chemicalvapor deposition apparatus.

In other embodiments, the first control mechanism 7 and the secondcontrol mechanism 8 may also be arranged at the process gas source 9 andthe cleaning gas source 10, respectively.

In some embodiments, the switch mechanism 23, the first controlmechanism 7 and the second control mechanism 8 all may comprise suitablevalves. For example, FIG. 4 shows a pneumatic valve as the controlmechanisms 7, 8. However, the switch mechanism and the controlmechanisms may also be hydraulic valves or any other types of valves.Moreover, these valves may be respectively controlled by differentcontrollers, or may be controlled by one common controller.

Next, by taking the plasma chemical vapor deposition apparatus as anexample, a work principle of the vapor deposition apparatus according tothe embodiment of the present disclosure will be explained in detail incombination with the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments.

The vapor deposition apparatus according to the embodiment of thepresent disclosure may perform a plasma chemical deposition process tocoat films in the reaction chamber and then clean the reaction chamber.

During the coating process, the first control mechanism 7 is operated toopen the first gas duct 5 so that the process gas is allowed to flowthrough the first gas duct 5. Also, the second control mechanism 8 isoperated to close the second gas duct 6 so that the cleaning gas is notallowed to flow through the second gas duct 6.

The process gas (for example, reaction gas) from the process gas source9 flows through the first gas duct 5, the dual vacuum system 2 and thecommon gas duct 4 in order, so as to be supplied into the reactionchamber of the reaction device 1.

The radio-frequency voltage (13.56 MHz) is transmitted to the upperelectrode 13 of the reaction device through the matching box 15, so asto generate an electric field in the reaction chamber 12.

The gas supplied into the reaction chamber 12 is ionized into plasma bythe electric field, and a desired film is formed on a workpiece orcomponent to be coated through the chemical vapor deposition process.

During the cleaning process, the cleaning gas (for example, NF₃ gas)flows through the second gas duct 7 from the cleaning gas source 10 soas to be supplied into the remote plasma source (RPS) 3 and then isionized into ions (for example, fluorine ions or F⁺). Ions (for example,F⁺) are supplied into the reaction chamber 12 of the reaction device 1through the dual vacuum system 2 and the common gas duct 4 to react withthe redundant films (mainly silicon compounds) on the inner wall of thereaction chamber 12, so as to generate a gas (for example, gaseousSiF₄). Then, the gas is pumped out by the vacuum pump 18 to realize aneffect of cleaning the reaction chamber 12.

During the replacement of the remote plasma source (RPS), when the RPSis in downtime, the switch mechanism 23 of the dual vacuum system 2, thefirst control mechanism 7 and the second control mechanism 8 arecontrolled to bring the ducts where these mechanisms are located into anon-communication state, so that the RPS is isolated from the entireplasma chemical vapor deposition apparatus. Thereafter, the RPS may beremoved from the plasma chemical vapor deposition apparatus, and a newRPS may be installed. During the above processes, it is not necessary tocool and inflate the entire plasma chemical vapor deposition apparatus,so that the downtime can be greatly reduced.

The plasma chemical vapor deposition apparatus according to the aboveembodiments of the present disclosure is capable of providing thefollowing advantages.

Firstly, the dual vacuum system is provided between the reaction chamber(or gas feeding duct) and the remote plasma source (RPS). The dualvacuum system is capable of providing a vacuum isolation between thereaction chamber and the remote plasma source, so that it is notnecessary to cool and inflate the reaction chamber when the RPS isneeded to be replaced or cleaned. It is only necessary to close the dualvacuum system as well as the first gas duct and the second gas duct, soas to replace the RPS. As a result, the downtime of the RPS may besignificantly reduced, a utilization of the plasma chemical vapordeposition apparatus may be increased, and the productivity may beincreased.

Secondly, in the above plasma chemical vapor deposition apparatus, thesupplying passage (the first gas duct 5) of the process gas is directlyconnected to the dual vacuum system without passing through the RPS, sothat the RPS may be removed more conveniently. Also, as the process gasdoes not pass through the RPS, the exfoliated particles exfoliated froman oxide film on the inner wall of the RPS do not enter the reactionchamber along with the process gas, which may otherwise reduce theproduct yield rate. Specifically, the exfoliated particles inside thechamber of the gas ionization device are only supplied into the reactionchamber along with the cleaning gas, and are pumped out along with thecleaning gas by the vacuum pump after the cleaning process is completed,so that the exfoliated particles may not affect the yield rate of theproduct produced during the process such as the coating process.

Further, on a basis of the DVS and in combination with interfaces of theDVS itself, it is only necessary to redesign a segment of duct from theprocess gas source to the DVS without modifying other components of theapparatus. Also, the original control system may still be used. Thus, itis not necessary to carry out a large-scale modification on an existingsystem.

So far, preferable embodiments of the present disclosure have beendescribed in detail by way of examples. It would be appreciated by thoseskilled in the art that further changes and modifications may be madethereto without departing from the spirit of the disclosure, and allthese changes and modifications shall fall within the scope of thepresent disclosure. Therefore, the scope of the present disclosure isdefined by the appended claims.

1. A vapor deposition apparatus, comprising: a reaction device having areaction chamber; a first gas duct connected to the reaction chamber andconfigured to direct a process gas for deposition into the reactionchamber; a gas ionization device connected to the reaction device andconfigured to ionize a cleaning gas; a second gas duct connected to thegas ionization device and configured to direct the cleaning gas forcleaning the reaction chamber into the gas ionization device; a commongas duct; and a three-way control mechanism, wherein, an end of thecommon gas duct is connected to the reaction chamber and the other endof the common gas duct is connected to a first gas port of the three-waycontrol mechanism; the first gas duct and the gas ionization device areconnected to a second gas port and a third gas port of the three-waycontrol mechanism, respectively; and the three-way control mechanism isconfigured to control the common gas duct to communicate with the firstgas duct or the gas ionization device, or to stop the common gas ductcommunicating with both the first gas duct and the gas ionizationdevice. 2-4. (canceled)
 5. The vapor deposition apparatus according toclaim 1, wherein the three-way control mechanism comprises a dual vacuumsystem having a switch mechanism.
 6. The vapor deposition apparatusaccording to claim 1, wherein the switch mechanism is a valve for dualvacuum system, and the gas ionization device is a remote plasma source.7. The vapor deposition apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the dualvacuum system comprises: a first vacuum chamber communicated with thefirst gas duct; a second vacuum chamber communicated with the gasionization device; and the switch mechanism which is configured suchthat the common gas duct is communicated with the first vacuum chamberor the second vacuum chamber, or the common gas duct is stoppedcommunicating with both the first vacuum chamber and the second vacuumchamber.
 8. The vapor deposition apparatus according to claim 1, furthercomprising: a first control mechanism disposed in the first gas duct andconfigured for opening or closing the first gas duct; and/or a secondcontrol mechanism disposed in the second gas duct and configured foropening or closing the second gas duct.
 9. The vapor depositionapparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a process gas sourcefor supplying the process gas and a cleaning gas source for supplyingthe cleaning gas.
 10. The vapor deposition apparatus according to claim1, wherein the common gas duct is formed of ceramic material.
 11. Thevapor deposition apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the reactiondevice comprises an upper electrode and a lower electrode, which areopposite to each other in the reaction chamber and configured forgenerating an electric field in the reaction chamber to ionize theprocess gas into plasma.
 12. The vapor deposition apparatus according toclaim 11, wherein the reaction device further comprises a matching boxconfigured for matching a radio-frequency voltage applied on the upperelectrode to obtain a minimum reflected power.